Origami Butterfly
by Shinigami29
Summary: [Chaos Arc] “Shibi…?” Emi muttered, pushing back his fringe to feel his forehead. Barely twenty of his kikai bugs had died in the ‘attack’, but she knew the shock of the toxins might be enough to send him unconscious… even then, she never thought that...


**Origami Butterfly**

Her chuunin team consisted of a Hyuuga, an Aburame, and herself. Needless to say, she never knew what to expect when she was with her chuunin team, which was vastly different from the other expectations that she _knew _were always hanging around her… like the expectation to marry the Aburame idiot that she had to train with.

Iwasa Emi was never happy with that thought.

When her parents had moved here from the Hidden Village of Sand, they had wanted to fit in, to prove their loyalty to their new home… so they signed a marriage contract, bounding their new born daughter to the barely one-year-old Aburame Shibi. It was a decision that her parents regretted every moment of everyday since, and many times she caught them arguing; her father saying that they couldn't change the past, and her mother blaming him for not wanting her to marry Hyuuga Hiashi.

Shaking the memories out of her mind, Emi looked over to where her two teammates were sparring. Call it bad luck, or just plan irony, but somehow she had managed to be on the same team as two of the most promising ninjas in the village… and the two with the biggest rivalry. Whether they were fighting over heritage, food, or her, Shibi and Hiashi never got along. And she was expected to play peacekeeper.

"Hiashi!" Emi called out, noticing a particularly grim look the younger of the teenagers had taken on as he pulled out a kunai. He glanced up at Emi with a charming smile, and she felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach… Shibi took the opportunity to throw a punch at the younger teen, but Hiashi easily dodged it. "Knock it off Aburame!"

Shibi just glared at Hiashi, before disappearing in a whisk of leaves… she sensed his presence behind her a moment later, and didn't jump as his arm slumped around her shoulders. "I noticed," he murmured into her ear, causing an involuntary shudder to creep down her spine. "That you never call me by my given name anymore, _Emi-chan_."

Her memory slipped for a moment, recalling when Shibi and her had been much younger, before they had realized that they were to be married… they had spent every waking moment together, and sometimes he would sneak into her room at night to show her the wriggling creatures that he had found in the forest…

"We're not kids anymore," Emi said with a sigh, pushing him away from herself before she stood up to walk towards Hiashi.

Hiashi was easily the taller of the two boys, and his all-seeing eyes made you think of all the secrets that might be behind them… it weaved a mysterious web of truth and lies, and made Emi want to blush in spite of herself. "Would you like some lunch, Emi?" Hiashi asked smoothly, the words pouring out of his lips like honey; Emi could only nod, and took Hiashi's offered arm as he turned to leave the training grounds. She could feel Shibi's glare on the back of her neck, and mindlessly swatted away one of his kikai bugs as it tried to land on her shoulder.

When she had just started to go to the academy with Shibi, their parents decided it was time to tell them that they were betrothed… it had put a riff in the youngsters, especially since now they were expected to act 'proper'. Shibi would walk her to school each day, and wait for her to walk her home in the evenings. For awhile they still joked around, but as Shibi got his first pair of sunglasses and started to retread into himself, the joking stopped. And then Emi had met Hiashi.

Hiashi stopped walking in front of a ramen stand; it was called Ichiraku's, and had just started up its business a few months ago… it was a promising place. Emi shook her head though, and pulled Hiashi to start walking again. _He hates eating at places like that,_ she thought to himself, though the implications behind his actions made her smile. He wanted to take her to a place that _she _liked, not that _he_ liked.

"I know you like eating there," Hiashi insisted softly, though he didn't stop walking. "I see you eating there often."

"You could probably see me undressing with those eyes of yours," Emi laughed out inappropriately, watching as a pink tinge dyed the Hyuuga's cheeks. "But I'd rather not eat at Ichiraku's… Shibi drags me there all the time."

Hiashi tensed at the mention of Shibi, but smiled it off charmingly. "Really..? Well then, let's go somewhere else." Emi rolled her eyes; _he says it as if it were his idea…_

Despite their growing separation, Shibi had always waited for her after school. Usually he'd buy her a meal before dropping her off at home, but as time went by, Emi wanted to go home sooner… so Shibi had gotten into the habit of buying take-out ramen quickly before meeting her, so that she'd had her meal and be able to go home sooner. That was why, long after they graduated, Shibi insisted on treating her to Ichiraku's as often as she would like… so she could eat ramen three meals a day, every day, and at the end of the week he would pay for every bowl.

And that way, she didn't have to spend time with him.

"How about here?" Hiashi suggested, stopping in front of a small restaurant. He ushered her into one of the outdoor chairs before she could respond, and ordered them both curry and rice. _So demanding,_ Emi rolled her eyes again, but settled into comfortable conversation with her teammate.

When Emi had first noticed Hiashi at school, she had been far behind a sizeable horde that already had. Young girls all had courted him, made him chocolates, and asked him to be their boyfriend on many occasions, but he had shrugged if off with rude comments and a cold stare. He wasn't the only attractive boy in the class though, and while he still had many suitors, by the time Emi had noticed him the main buzz had died down.

They had been learning how to disarm someone, and had to be in pairs; Shibi had stepped towards her, as he always had when they had to learn something in pairs, but the teacher noticed. _"Not this time, Aburame," _the teacher had snarled out, before pairing him off with someone else. _"Emi, you practice with Hiashi-kun."_ And that had been that. One glance into his mysteriously pale eyes and she all but forgot her engagement. And for the first time, she dreamed of a future that Shibi had no place in…

Emi smiled distastefully when the waitress brought out the curry, but Hiashi took no notice as he took his first bite. _I wonder if he'll notice if I just don't eat it..?_ She thought as she picked at bits of rice, sipping shallowly at the glass of water provided for her.

It hadn't taken long for Hiashi to glance at her still-full plate. "You must be hungry, Emi," he chuckled out. "We were just training… eat, or you'll never regain you're strength."

"Of course," Emi laughed back at him hesitantly, before taking a forkful of the curry and bringing it close to her lips… but before she could take a bite, a small swarm of kikaichuu landing on her hand and devoured it.

A girl at the restaurant screamed, and Hiashi's eyes flashed with hate as he tried to find Shibi… he hadn't needed to, as he appeared in the chair between him and Emi; Emi knew he was grinning manically, and didn't like where this was going.

No one in the restaurant dared to speak, most of them having witnessed some of the two teen's fights in the past, and the rest hearing detailed rumours. Hiashi couldn't stay silent though.

"What are you doing here, Aburame-scum?" he hissed out, gripping his fork to the point that his knuckles turned white.

"Emi, why didn't you order something else?" Shibi asked her, ignoring Hiashi. "You hate curry."

"I was being polite, Aburame," she sighed. "Could you leave?"

"I'm sorry, I thought I heard something, but I can't be sure that you were talking to me…"

"Buzz off, Aburame!" Hiashi hissed out slightly louder this time. Shibi still ignored him.

"Would you please leave, _Shibi_?" Emi stressed, hoping that he would be pleased with that response.

"Nope," Shibi said happily, pulling her plate of curry towards himself and gobbling it down. "S'not like you guys are on a date or nuthin'… just teammates going out for lunch. And I'm a teammate, so I thought I'd come too."

Hiashi snapped, throwing a punch towards the nonchalant Aburame heir. Shibi didn't so much as glance up as his kikaichuu blocked for him, absorbing Hiashi's fist into a mob of bugs long enough to stop the motion before moving away. "How could it even be a date, Aburame, if you always show up before I can ask her on one?"

Emi's world stopped for a moment, before hurtling forwards in a pinwheel of motion and colour. _… He wants to date me..?_ Suddenly, all of those dreams of the future seemed that much more achievable…

"Pft, as if she'd go on a date with you," Shibi snickered, finishing off the last of the food on the plate. "Yo, you gonna finish that Hiashi-kun?"

"How do you know?" Emi asked quietly. Shibi looked at her, shocked, and Hiashi blinked before looking at her as well. Both boys seemed confused, so she swallowed the painful lump in her throat and spoke louder. "I would love to go on a date with you, Hiashi."

"What..?" Hiashi seemed shocked, but happy. The pink tinge was back in his cheeks as he smiled at her… but Shibi ruined the moment, standing up and throwing a punch at the Hyuuga heir.

The surprising part is that Hiashi didn't notice in time to dodge.

Hiashi absorbed the punch easily, but you could tell that he would have a black eye later… the younger boy sneered, before moving to throw a punch brutally back at Shibi, who blocked with his kikaichuu before retreating for a moment to pull out several kunai.

Emi saw this, and darted in front of Hiashi. The Hyuuga boy was startled to a stop, but Shibi wasn't fazed as he charged towards Emi anyways, no doubt to hit Hiashi over her shoulder or something else alone those lines… so she did the only thing that she knew would work.

She pulled a bottle of bug spray off of her belt and sprayed at his kikaichuu.

The effect was immediate. Shibi grunted (as he would never scream) in pain, and stopped as he fell to his knees. Emi's hands shook slightly as she dropped the spray can, and moved just in time to catch him before his torso hit the ground.

"Shibi…?" Emi muttered, pushing back his fringe to feel his forehead. Barely twenty of his kikai bugs had died in the 'attack', but she knew the shock of the toxins might be enough to send him unconscious… even then, she never thought that he would faint.

"He's faking it," Hiashi grunted. "Just leave him here; that'll teach him."

"I'm taking him to the hospital," Emi had barely heard him as she stood up, easily pulling Shibi's weight over her shoulder. Yes, he was heavy, but she had done this before… mostly when the boy was being bratty and didn't want to go home after breaking into her room.

Hiashi sighed, stepping in front of her and holding out his hand as if to take Shibi. "Here, allow m-"

"No Hiashi," Emi said forcibly, walking past him. "He's my responsibility."

With that said, she started walking away. After a while, when they moved out of Hiashi's all-seeing sight, she slipped them into an alley and unceremoniously dropped him on the ground. He grunted again, and opened his eyes to glare at her. "That hurt."

"You deserve it," she spat out at him. "You ruined my lunch with Hiashi and then tried to attack him. _In a restaurant._ Dropping you in the dirt was the least you deserved."

"I did deserve that," Shibi agreed, standing up. "That's not what I'm talking about."

"Don't get me started about the bug spray," Emi groaned. "I've sprayed you with bug spray before and it's been worse… It's not like I got it in your mouth this time. And you _punched_ Hiashi. You deserved that too."

"I'm not talking about that!" Shibi yelled at her. Emi froze, not used to that tone of voice. Shibi had never, _ever_ yelled at her before.

"Then what are you talking about, Shibi?" Emi asked calmly, staring at him. Shibi sighed, running a hand through his hair and slipping his sunglasses off. He looked up at her, and she stared unflinchingly into his kikaichuu eyes.

"Don't you remember when we were younger?" Shibi asked accusingly.

"Of course I do," Emi rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. "We would goof around and play in the forest and stupid things like that… is that what you're talking about?"

"Yes, no," he growled under his breathe. "Don't you remember when we first entered the Academy..?"

"Our parents told us we were betrothed," she was starting to get irritated with him. "Is _that_ what you're talking about? That doesn't have to do anything with what happened today."

"_Your _parents told _you_," Shibi stressed, glaring at her again. He stepped towards her, and she stepped back… they continued this until her back hit a wall, and Shibi was a breath away from her. "I've known the entire time that we were going to get married. And at first, I just tried to make the best of it. After awhile, I realized that it was something that would be easy to live with, and now…"

"Now..?" Emi asked breathlessly, feeling another involuntary shudder creep down her spine as he leaned forwards to whisper in her ear.

"Don't you remember when you first found out..?" He asked, moving so that his lips grazed over her ear. "You said that you were happy, because you were always happy with me, because we always had fun together… and then… now…"

She felt herself blush; she did remember saying that… but she had been young and naïve. Just a child, not knowing the consequences of her words. "What, Shibi..? I won't understand unless you tell me…"

"Have you ever given me a chance since then?" He asked roughly, pinning her shoulders against the wall as he pulled back to glare into her eyes. "Ever since you met Hiashi we drifted apart. You started thinking that maybe you could end up with someone else; you _wanted_ to end up with someone else. Anyone would do, so long as they weren't me. I've done so much to make sure you stay happy, and you can't even stay in the same room as me for five minutes unless you're asleep!"

"Are you jealous, Shibi?" Emi taunted him… he was starting to scare her.

"Yes!" He yelled again. "Everyday for the last 6 years, ever since we started going to the academy, I have been falling in love with you, and you never give me a shot!" Her eyes widened in shock. "I've tried time and time again just to get you to go to lunch with me, but it doesn't matter, because you've resigned yourself to some sort of inevitable doom! And whenever I try to even make it 'bearable' for you, you run off and submerse yourself into a false fairytale where you're Prince Charming is none other than Hyuuga Hiashi!"

"It's you I'm going to end up marrying anyways," she said sarcastically. "So why should you care..?"

"Because…" he looked away for a moment, and when he looked back, he did something that he had never done before…

He kissed her.

And not just any kiss; they had kissed many times when they were young, mostly just a peck on the lips and childish wonder. No… this kiss he pushed her back against the wall, his body flush against hers, lips moving over lips and tongue exploring every inch that they were allowed… it left her dizzy and disoriented by the time he pulled away, and she noticed that there weren't any kikaichuu buzzing in his eyes.

"Because," he muttered again, the movement of his lips brushing against hers. "I want you to marry me because you _want _to, not because you _have_ to."

"Shibi…" she bit down on her tongue, and he pulled away from her, leaving her against the wall. "That's… I don't know if I can…"

He laughed bitterly, not looking up at her. "And you see, that's what I don't deserve. I don't deserve this rejection you constantly give me right after you bring my hopes up." He dragged his hand through his hair again, his kikaichuu coming back to him and filtering back into his body as he dug into one of his pockets. "But don't worry about it… I'm going to be becoming a Jounin in a few weeks, and I'll talk to the Hokage about taking solo missions from now on, and I'll see what my father can do about this contract… 'cause I know your parents want you out of it, and I suppose if both of our parents agree and the Hokage consents we might not _have_ to get married…"

Taking his hand out of his pocket, he tossed a small, paper object at her before he started to walk away.

"… that, at least, should make you happy."

Emi waited until after he left before she slumped down the wall, a blush bright on her cheeks as she felt her bruised lips. Looking at the object Shibi had thrown at her, she noticed that it was an origami butterfly… _People of the Aburame Clan give butterflies to those they love… but he knows that I would never want something dead._

She pulled her knees against her chest, sobbing into her arms as she thought about all those times she had carelessly said 'I love you' when she was younger… and she knew she would never take it back. Emi only wanted a choice, and Shibi wanted to give it to her… and she knew, if it meant that the only way that he could break the contract was death, he would throw his life away carelessly in a mission; thinking back, he had almost done so many, many times.

Looking up in the direction he had left she stood up shakily, mind made up. _Shibi… why couldn't you have said that years ago..? Now… now I actually have to stop denying everything…_

She took the first of many steps towards the Aburame household… but before she could take a second someone – the Hokage's assistant to be exact – appeared in front of her. "Iwasa-kun, the Hokage would like to see you."

"A mission?" Emi asked, stealing her emotions though they still churned inside of her; she tucked the butterfly into one of her pockets. The assistant nodded, before disappearing again.

Emi looked towards where Shibi had gone, before heading towards the Hokage's office. _He'll be there, and after the mission… after the mission I'll talk to him._

_-Owari_


End file.
